Ahead of Pride event, Red Sox invite scrutiny of pitcher's homophobic past

Five days before the Boston Red Sox were set to stage their annual Pride Celebration event, they gave a start to a pitcher who two years ago tweeted that gay people "will go to hell."

Matt Dermody, a 32-year-old called up recently from Boston's Class AAA affiliate after Chris Sale went on the injured list, took the mound Thursday against the host Cleveland Guardians. On Wednesday, Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom had said that Dermody "knows he made a mistake tweeting that."

Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post.

Dermody, who has previously pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs, was playing for a Japanese team in 2021 when he posted a since-deleted tweet that purported to stem from his Christian beliefs.

"Homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God. They will go to hell," he wrote. "This is not my opinion, but the #Truth. . . . May we all examine our hearts, ask Jesus to forgive us, and repent of all our sins. I love you all in Christ Jesus!"

Dermody wrote online at the time that he was "not homophobic," adding, "The Truth is love."

Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy said Wednesday (via Mass Live) that his organization only learned of the "hurtful" tweet after it signed Dermody in January, at which point the team "addressed this with him."

"Matt, along with all our minor leaguers, went through our mandatory anti-discrimination and harassment prevention training in March," Kennedy said in a statement. "We cannot dictate the religious beliefs or political views of our players and employees, but we do require they treat people in our organization and ballpark with respect and professionalism."

Boston Manager Alex Cora echoed those remarks before Thursday's game, telling reporters, "Obviously, not too many people agree with the tweet of Matt. I'm not here to tell him what to say or what to do, but one thing's for sure: when you put this uniform [on], what we want is for people to be inclusive."

Boston's decision to not only keep Dermody, who entered this season with a 5.60 ERA over 30 major league appearances, in its organization but then to give him a start brought the team a storm of criticism. The episode also marked the latest example of homophobia surfacing among MLB players of professed Christian faith while their teams attempt to expand their appeal among members of the LGBTQ+ community. Pride Month events take place in June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall uprising.

Toronto pitcher Anthony Bass apologized late last month, less than two weeks before the Blue Jays' Pride celebrations, after sharing a video calling for a boycott of companies that show support for the LGBTQ+ community. Bass, 35, had shared a video in which another Instagram user cited a Bible passage to explain why he believed "Christians have got to be boycotting Target, Bud Light and any other corporation that's pushing the things they're pushing."

"I recognize yesterday I made a post that was hurtful to the Pride community, which includes friends of mine and close family members of mine," the veteran pitcher subsequently said. "I am truly sorry for that."

In June 2022, five pitchers for the Tampa Bay Rays declined to wear rainbow-colored logos on their uniforms during a Pride Night game. Jason Adam, one of the pitchers players, said it was "a faith-based decision."

An LGBTQ+ advocacy group invited by the Los Angeles Dodgers to participate in their June 16 Pride Night event has come under fire, but Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw said last month that his objection to the group was based solely on its satirical use of colorfully modified colored nuns' habits, with painted faces.

"This has nothing to do with the LGBTQ community or Pride or anything like that," Kershaw said. "This is simply a group that was making fun of a religion that I don't agree with."

Another Dodgers pitcher, Blake Treinen, and Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams chimed in with criticisms of the group as an affront to their Christian faith. Treinen's letter on the matter was posted online by Sean Feucht, a Christian musician and activist who has accused the Walt Disney Co., in the wake of its opposition to Florida's "don't say gay" law, of "enabling those who fight to sexualize our children" and of being staffed by "groomers."

The opinions penned by Treinen included a description of efforts by Target and Bud Light to be inclusive to the LGBTQ+ community as a "debacle" that should serve as "a warning to companies and professional sports to stay true to their brand and leave the propaganda and politics off the field."

As part of the annual Pride Celebration at Fenway Park the Red Sox have scheduled for Tuesday, they are offering team jerseys in rainbow colors. The team has advertised a pregame performance by dancer and trans activist Lilly Rose Valore, a Boston native.

Bloom said Wednesday that, in terms of retaining Dermody after learning of his tweet, the Red Sox were "mindful of the optics here." He added that "people do make mistakes."

Following Dermody's start Thursday, in which he took a loss while allowing three earned runs in four innings, he was designated for assignment. Given the usual amount of rest pitchers get between starts, Dermody's turn in the rotation might have come up again Tuesday.

Instead, in what might have been his final moments in a Red Sox uniform - if Dermody clears waivers, the team could return him to its minor league system - he addressed his 2021 tweet.

"I do regret the tweet, in the sense that it came out hurtful and it hurt a lot of people," Dermody told reporters. "That's the last thing I want to do, is hurt people.

"A lot of people think that I'm against a certain group of people or whatnot. But I'm for everybody making it to heaven."

Related Content

D.C. region suffers second day of dangerous air quality from wildfire smoke

Pat Robertson, televangelist who mixed politics and religion, dies at 93

D.C.-area carjackings have soared. Here's where they're happening.